With a 2-for-3 day on March 20 against South Forsyth, Johns Creek senior Justin Friend posted his first multi-hit game of the season while leading his team to a 13-3 win in their 6AAAAAA opener.

Friend and the Gladiators haven’t looked back since.

Winners of 12 of their last 15 games, Johns Creek is now one of the hottest baseball teams in the state and Friend’s hot hitting has been a big reason why.

Sporting a .521 batting average during that same 15-game stretch, Friend has raised his average from .231 to .475 in just over a month and helped his Gladiators gain full control of 6AAAAAA.

“He has really paced our offense the last couple of weeks,” said Johns Creek baseball coach Billy Nicholson. “He had a decisive opposite field home run against Lambert that swung the momentum in our favor last week and he has really come into his own this year by hitting to all fields.”

Friend’s homerun against Lambert on April 8 was a 3-run shot that led Johns Creek to a key 8-2 victory in region play and one of three hits he had in the game. The three-hit day was one of nine multi-hit games for Friend this season and his three RBIs helped push his season total to 26, which ranks second on the team.

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